swagger
/ˈswæɡ.ə/
"swagger" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swagger” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,694 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #23,694
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swagger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈswæɡ.ə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #23,694 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “swagger” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for swagger is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈswæɡ.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #23,694 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for swagger, with forms such as "sawgger", "sswagger", and "swagegr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "swinger", "sanger", "Seager", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: A frequentative form of swag (“to sway”), first attested in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595), see quotations. The correct English form is swagger, spelled S-W-A-G-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1To behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
- 2To boast or brag noisily; to bluster; to bully.
- 3To walk with a swaying motion.
Etymology
A frequentative form of swag (“to sway”), first attested in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595), see quotations.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sawgger,sswagger,swagegr,swager,swaggerr,swaggre,swgager,swwagger,wsagger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of swagger - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “swagger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-W-A-G-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈswæɡ.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “swinger” - see the side-by-side comparison. swagger vs swinger
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.